tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18811056810489366382014-10-06T16:52:24.049-07:00God's Pencil"I am God's pencil, a tiny bit of pencil with which He writes what he likes; He writes through us, and however imperfect we may be, He writes beautifully." -- Blessed Teresa of CalcuttaTerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.comBlogger249125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-13585451543764724422010-11-20T09:57:00.000-08:002010-11-20T10:07:26.062-08:00Verbum DominiEarlier this month the holy father released postsynodal apostolic exhortation<span style="font-style: italic;">Verbum Domini</span>, the Word of the Lord.<br /><em></em><blockquote><em>Rome Reports</em> explains, this is "<strong><em>the most important [Church] document on Scripture since Vatican II.</em></strong>" </blockquote>Carl Olsen of Ignatius Press <a href="http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2010/11/how-does-the-holy-father-describe-his-top-priority.html">describes</a> why this is so.<br /><br />Get it <a href="http://www.zenit.org/article-30942?l=english">here</a> at ZENIT or in Postscript format <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20100930_verbum-domini_en.pdf">here</a> from the Vatican website.TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-4194897612880874392010-11-12T15:14:00.000-08:002010-11-20T09:57:18.310-08:00Intrinsic evilSo, in a social justice discussion with a very smart, but theologically mistaken friend I brought up the fact that abortion is intrinsically evil. His response was: Isn't not caring for the poor also an intrinsic evil? The answer is in short NO!<br />The term <span style="font-weight: bold;">intrinsic evil</span> is a technical term. It has a precise meaning which is based on the theology of sin.<br />Now for a Catholic there are three conditions which must apply for a sin to be a mortal sin. They are:<br /><ol><li style="">The sin must involve a grave matter.</li><li>The sin must be committed with the full knowledge of the sinner.</li><li>The sin is committed with the full consent of the sinner.</li></ol>So while cheating at chess might be a sin, it is likely not a mortal sin because it does not involve a grave matter.<br />The person must understand that the act is a sin. (This goes to another concept called vincible ignorance which I will not discuss here.)<br />The person must consent to the sin. A coerced act will not be a mortal sin.<br />It becomes obvious that many types of mortal sin are conditional. That is the conditions which surround the act determine whether or not it is a sin. When there is a disagreement about whether or not something is a sin and the Church has not taken a stance then the subject is said to be relegated to the prudential judgment of the faithful. The best way to fight poverty is a matter for prudential judgment, although there are methods, socialism, liberation justice methods and others which the Church has spoken out against due to their negative impact on human dignity.<br />There are a number of sins which the Church has declared are not open to prudential judgment. These acts are always sinful, irregardless of the situation. They are called intrinsically evil sins. The modern Church recognized five such classes of sins. Three of them have always been opposed by the Church from time immemorial. The other two are the fruits of modern science.<br />These sins are:<br /><ol><li>Abortion.</li><li style="">Euthanasia<br /></li><li style="">Support for the normalization of intrinsically disordered sexual licentiousness.</li><li style="">Allowing innocent babies to be conceived for the purpose of scientific study or harvesting their parts, as in stem cell research.</li><li style="">Manipulating human DNA for the purpose of "improving" or duplicating another human being, as in cloning.</li></ol>These are acts which are unsupportable in Catholic social justice. This means that they are not subjects upon which we can "dialog" or compromise.<br />A Catholic politician can not support any law which support any of these acts, nor can the any member Catholic faithful vote for any politician who has voted for such a law without themselves committing a mortal sin. That is not my opinion, but the opinion of the Holy Father.<br />There are no other acts by such a politician, no stand on another issue that makes it alright to vote for such a politician.<br />Politics is call the art of the possible. It expects compromise might sometimes be necessary in order to reach certain goal. Vote for a bad policy so that a greater good can be achieved.<br />Salvation does not work like that. It is never permissible to support an elected official who supports an intrinsic evil.<br />Note this does not mean that it is alright to vote for an opposing politician who would support torture or unjust war or racism. These are acts which are not intrinsically evil, but which are also sins because they impinge on the fundamental dignity of the human person.<br />The right of a nation to employ capital punishment has always been supported by the church. The Holy Father has said that in modern western society he believes that the use of capital punishment is unnecessary. This is a prudential judgment, and as the Holy Father himself has said it is neither morally equivalent to abortion, nor is support for a candidate who supports capital punishment a sin.<br />This is not a political fact it is a theological fact.<br />Could it be then that there may be no candidate in an election for which a Catholic can morally vote. Indeed that can be the case.<br />If there are two candidates in a race, one of whom is committed to expanding and ensuring the right of abortion under all circumstances, and one of who is committed to reducing the number of abortions while maintaining the "right" of women to kill their unborn babies it is permissible to vote for the second candidate, provided the vote is in spite of their stand on abortion, rather than in support of it.<br />In an election in which one candidate is a supporter of abortion and the other a foe of abortion, but would support the use of torture, then the prudential Catholic could not, in good conscious, that is without sin, vote for either of the candidates.<br />If we compromise on evil we sin.TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-84001872236358939382010-10-14T08:39:00.000-07:002010-10-14T09:12:01.445-07:00AftermathNow that the Holy Father's trip to Britain is several weeks done it is, perhaps, appropriate to review the trip in its entirety so as to aticipate it fruits. That it will have fruits I have no doubt. As <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/247111/pope-benedict-s-uk-visit-news-everybody-missed-raymond-arroyo">Raymond Arroyo</a> wrote:<br /><blockquote> In other words, the Pope sees his Anglican “fast pass” into the Catholic Church as the fruit of ecumenism — a chance for Anglicans to return to the faith of their fathers before the Reformation and to protect themselves from an insidious secularism that is plaguing society at large and their communion in particular.<br /><br />With this understanding, the symbolic and stated message of Pope Benedict during his British sojourn comes into stark relief. His meeting with the Catholic and Anglican bishops at Lambeth Palace, the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury for 800 years (the first 70 Archbishops of Canterbury were Catholics), his visit to Westminster Abbey (built by the Catholic king, Henry III and home to Benedictine monks until the Reformation), his moving speech at Westminster Hall (where Catholic martyrs Thomas More, Edmund Campion, Bishop John Fisher, and others were condemned to death for their refusal to disavow their faith), and finally his beatification of the 19th century Anglican convert to Catholicism, Blessed John Henry Newman suddenly all seems one piece. Benedict’s visit was a stand against relativism in the heart of Europe and a plea for Britain to return to herself — to return to her Catholic roots.</blockquote>All of the Holy Father's speeches while in the UK, (and the speeches of others at each event) are available <a href="http://www.thepapalvisit.org.uk/Replay-the-Visit/Speeches/Speeches-18-September">here</a>. If you haven't heard or read them you should. He was at once orthodox and ecumenical. He gave away <span style="font-style: italic;">something</span> for the cause of ecumenism, but gave away nothing which in any way was dogmatic or would compromise the Truth of which the Church is the guardian.<br />John Paul's visits to the United States produced many fruits, not he least of which were the strongly orthodox young priests often known as "John Paul priests." Benedict's visit to the U.S. has resulted in a wave of stronger public defenses of Catholic doctrine by American bishops, some who were not so anxious to speak out in the past.<br />One can only hope that a similar movement will be seen in Great Britain as a result of the Holy Father's visit.TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-63733121423735238832010-09-11T06:05:00.000-07:002010-09-11T06:46:27.154-07:00Constantine and Modernism<p class="MsoNormal">In a discussion recently about liturgy I was faced with the opinion that during the times between the the time of the Church Fathers and the Middle Ages that the character of the Mass was perverted in the name of clericalism and elitism, primarily by the Roman Emperor Constantine with the collusion of the Pope, who was Sylvester I (and not actually in attendance.)</p><p class="MsoNormal">Constantine did this, the narrative goes because he was seeking to accumulate power, or at least consolidate his power over the Roman Empire. So the narrative goes the laity were excluded from the sanctuary and Latin was enshrined in the Mass in an effort to exercise control over the faithful.</p><p class="MsoNormal">This is not a new narrative. It has been used by Protestants for centuries. In the pre-Vatican II era it was picked up by dissident Catholic theologians and widely used to justify everything form the wreck-ovations of the churches to the army of laity who now minister at Mass. </p><p class="MsoNormal">I will start by stating that contemporary pagan and Christian authors laud Constantine. Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, and Church Father wrote a basically unfinished work on Constantine after his death, which was considered the standard on the Emperor's life until the Reformation, when later pagan sources were brought forward in an attempt to discredit him. They were written during the time of the Emperor Julian, called the apostate, who was a pagan and the last Emperor of Constantine's line. Modern secular interpretations of Constatine have ignored the contemporary sources and leaned heavily on the post reformation sources, in the interest of besmirching the Church, and traditional Catholic practices.<br />Certainly Constantine was interested in supporting orthodoxy, which was why he call for the First Council of Nicaea to deal with the Arian heresy. As far as I know, or have been able to find Nicaea had no role in liturgical practice at all, in either East or West (except for prohibiting kneeling during the consecration on Sundays and during the Pentecost season, and excepting the fact that the Creed was recited at Mass.) </p><p class="MsoNormal">As far as the use of Latin is concerned it was the vernacular for most of the western world until at least the 8th century. This is at least three hundred years after Constantine and Nicaea. Certainly Medieval Latin served the same purpose during the High Middle Ages as French did in the post Renaissance period and that English does today. For example English is used as the international language of pilots and air traffic control, as well as in the Mass in many countries where only a small number of people speak the local dialect, and for which no vernacular translation of the Mass exists. ( I should acknowledged that both Spanish and French perform the same funtion in regard to liturgy in differnet parts of the world.)<br />The Mass itself , as a sacrificial ritual, predates Constantine. We have records from as long ago as the second century, some written by Pope Clement I, who likely was alive during the time St. Peter and St. Paul were in Rome. Even the Didache describes liturgical worship. I would remind you that this document was unavailable to Renaissance writers and though found in 1873 was mostly ignored by modern historians unitl after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. It's definitive origin in the late first century, contemporaneous with the Apostles and the early church was only widely accepted in the 1970s, after the changes in the liturgy which were implemented in the Post Vatican II era.<br />As for the use of Latin in the Mass this also pre-dated Constantine, probably dating from the middle of the third century. Pope Gregory the Great in the sixth century, hundreds of years after Constantine made a major revision of the way the Mass was said, which was in Latin, at that time the vernacular. There were still many regional variations at this time. Charles the Great (Charlemagne), who conquered much of Western Europe during his life ordered that the Mass according to the Roman rite (that is the Mass as celebrated in Rome) be said throughout his realm. By this time the Romance Languages were developing and Latin was a distinct separate language. Spoken by most of the nobility for sure and in most places the only language which actually had a written form. It would be a hundred years or more later before the Romance languages were written and several hundred years later before languages outside of Southern Europe developed their own written language.<br />I think you can see how something which was ritualistic, like liturgy, that had a rhythm and cycle of readings required a language that not only could be written but was also commonly read in an international sense. Don't forget that for much of this period concepts of French or Italian or German as a national identity did not exists. At the same time there were areas of Europe that did not use the Roman rite. Ireland for example had its own rite, the Celtic rite, which lasted into the 12the century. It was also said in Latin, which was obviously not a vernacular language for that country, but considering that Ireland was Christianize by St Patrick, who was a British Roman I guess that use of Latin should not be surprising.</p><p class="MsoNormal">The narrative of the pre-Vatican II Mass as a exclusionary ritual where by the priest mumbled in Latin while the faithful, ignorant of what was happening, prayed rosaries is mis-guided simplification. The Latin responses were learned by eight year olds. <span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span><span>I can attest to you that I certainly knew what <i>Et cum spiritu tuo </i>meant when I intoned it. In Europe and America Latin was taught in every Catholic high school and even many secular ones. I can attest to the fact my father who never never finished high school, could recite the standard prayers in both Latin and English, knew the Tridentine Mass probably better than most modern faithful know the <i>Novus Ordo</i>, and as an adult the Liturgy responses he no doubt learned as a boy. I don't doubt there were people who could not do this and did not understand what was happening at Mass. I would also maintain that many of the modern faithful have mastery of English ( or Spanish or French...) have no idea of what is happening at Mass. Indeed at a certain level no one truly knows, it is a mystery of faith, something we cannot know this side of death. The fact that they understand the words without grasping their meaning, or in many cases misunderstanding their meaning is not an improvement of the situation.</span></span><br />My last point is that the demonizing of Constantine by sources inside the Church as opposed to Protestants outside the Church is a something which has its roots in the mid twentieth century modernist movement. This is the same movement which used Vatican II's valid and specific documents as an excuse to do many things never called for by the council, one of which was the elimination of Latin as a liturgical language. The Vatican II document Sancrosanctum Concilium actually called for Latin to be retained in the Liturgy and required that the faithful (that's us) know all of the Propers of the Mass in Latin. It says:</p><span><span> </span></span><blockquote><span><span>1. Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites. </span></span><div><span><span>2. But since the use of the mother tongue, whether in the Mass, the administration of the sacraments, or other parts of the liturgy, frequently may be of great advantage to the people, the limits of its employment may be extended. This will apply in the first place to the readings and directives, and to some of the prayers and chants, according to the regulations on this matter to be laid down separately in subsequent chapters.</span></span></div></blockquote><div><span><span></span></span><p><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As can be seen Vatican II called for the retention of Latin in the Mass. Whether its elimination is good or not is another discussion. But whether good or not its elimination was not called for by the council. Books written by people in the group who implemented that change admit that it was an action taken to make the Mass more appealing to Protestants, not an action to either improve the quality of Liturgical Worship nor to edify the sacrifice which is taking place therein.<br />At many places the sacrificial character of the Mass has been completely subsumed in a paradigm of communal meal, so much so that a good portion of the faithful in those places no longer believe in the Real Presence. </p><p class="MsoNormal">I have been very fortunate at my parish to always have a priest who is faithful to spirit of the liturgical celebration, and one who follows the rubrics and forms of the liturgical worship. Not every parish has been so fortunate, resulting in large numbers of faithful who are more ignorant what is happening at the Liturgy than ever existed when the Mass was said in Latin.</p></div>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-51722537104198201932010-08-22T08:24:00.000-07:002010-08-22T08:54:32.105-07:00The narrow wayIn 1534 John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester was arrested for refusing to swear to the Act of Supremacy. The Act was a law passed by parliament which required everyone to swear to its three clauses, which were: that any heir of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn was a legitimate heir to the the throne of England, that the marriage between Henry and Catherine was null and void, irregardless of what the Church said, and that the Bishop of Rome (as the Pope was designated in the act had no more authority or power in England than any other bishop. This John Fisher could not do.<div>Thomas More, lawyer, former Speaker of the House of Commons, and Chancellor of Henry, also refused to sign the oath, and in 1534 he was also arrested.</div><div>It is said that both men arrived at the Tower of London, the place they would spend the rest of their lives, both being executed the next year, at the same time.</div><div>Looking at the tower's door Thomas said," My Lord I believe the door is wide enough for both of us."</div><div>John Fisher replied, "Thomas, it is narrow enough."</div><div>Of St. Thomas More in 1929 G.K. Chesterton said, "Blessed Thomas More is important today, but he is not as important now as he will be in one hundred years from today." </div><div>Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy sought to make the state supreme over the teachings of God. Of all of the bishops of England only St. John Fisher chose the narrow way of adherence to the Church over the state.</div><div>When he was to die St. Thomas More declared that he died, "the king's good servant and God's first," one among many who would be a martyr for following the path laid down by Christ against the power of the English state.</div>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-2852179108483211432010-08-15T07:50:00.001-07:002010-08-15T08:44:12.698-07:00Marian Gifts: The AssumptionThe Angels, both holy and fallen have preternatural gifts. They have abilities beyond those of mortals, gifts of God at their creation.<div>Adam and Eve were also graced with preternatural gifts at their creation, infused knowledge, immortality of the body and integrity. </div><div>Infused knowledge is the ability to recognize the providence of God. Immortality of the body means that the body is immune to disease, incorruptible of body. Integrity is the perfect obedience of emotions to the intellect, to the will. It is the absence of concupiscence, the inclination to sin, though not necessarily to external temptation, as is evident in Adam and Eve's fall to the temptation of the serpent.</div><div>These preternatural gifts were lost by our first parents when they committed original sin. No human through the long history of humanity have regain these gifts. Not even Christs death on the cross restored them the humanity. Except for one. Except for the one created without the stain of original sin. Except for Mary.</div><div>The knowledge of Mary's sinless nature was not something created by the medieval Church, it was a belief common among the faithful from the second century. It only logically follows that Mary would posses those gifts which were integral to our humanity prior to their loss due to sin.</div><span><span>Infused knowledge is the ability to recognize the providence of God. Mary realized the supernatural significance of things others did not, so as Scripture says she “pondered them in her heart,” and eventually revealed them to St. Luke, where he recorded them in his Gospel.</span></span><div><span><span>Integrity is the perfect obedience of emotions to the intellect, to the will. Mary was not troubled by concupiscence, she had not inclination to sin, though she was tempted by external temptation as are all members of the human race, as were Adam and Eve. But though she was tempted she did not sin, not even venial sin</span></span>s.</div><div><span><span>Finally, i</span></span><span><span>mmortality of the body means she was not subject to disease. In a very real way her Ascension into Heaven was a result of her preternatural gift of bodily incorruptibility.</span></span></div><span><span>The supernatural gift lost by Adam and Eve was to be in Gods family, that is to be Full of Grace. This is a gift that God returned to us through Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of Baptism. It is the gift that Mary possessed without baptism, because of her Immaculate Conception.</span></span><div><span><span></span></span><span><span>None of these gifts were Mary's by virtue of any act that she committed. She did not earn them, no more than we can earn God's gift of salvation. They were Gift's of God to His Mother. </span></span></div><div><span><span>In a very real way Mary was part of God' plan from the beginning. She is prefigured in the Old Testament, her place in salvation history reflected in the Book of Kings and in Psalms, in the relationship of the King of Israel to the Queen Mother. She is the Queen in Ophir , the King's daughter, who will be the mother of the King, and whose sons will be the princes of the Earth, who the nations will praise forever.</span></span><div><span><span></span></span></div></div><div><span><span>Through God's gifts she, who was to remain a virgin, saved from the pain of labor, which was a punishment visited on Eve as a result of Original Sin, would have her heart pierced at the foot of the cross, she would never know the death of corruption of the body. She was the first to receive the gift of Her only Son's victory over death. the gift that we will receive at the Last Judgement.</span></span></div><div><span><span>In the Eastern Churches, including the Eastern Catholic Churches the Feast of the Assumption is celebrated as the Dormition of the Theotokos, that is the falling asleep of the Mother of God. </span></span></div>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-81907919967410524712010-08-09T07:11:00.000-07:002010-08-09T09:50:31.007-07:00St. Teresia Benedicta of the CrossOn this day in 1942, Edith Stein, along with her sister, Rosa were gassed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Stein was a member of the Discalced Camerlite monastery at Cologne. Her religious name was Teresia Benedicta of the Cross.<div>Born a Jew, she flirted with atheism as a teen but converted to Christianity. She was baptized a Roman Catholic in 1922. She was doctor of philosophy and a professor at Freinburg. She attributed her conversion to Catholicism to her reading of the autobiography of St Teresa of Avila. </div><div>In 1933 she wrote a letter to Pope Pius XI denouncing Germany's Nazi regime and asked to Pope to opening denounce them. that same year she entered the convent. </div><div>Because of her Jewish background her order transfered her to a monastery in the Netherlands. </div><div>In 1942, in the face of great acts of horror on the part of the Nazi regime the bishops of the Netherlands spoke out against them. The response was the arrest of all Jewish converts in the Netherlands and their shipment to Auschwitz. It is very indicative that these prisoners received no numbers. It was the obvious intent that they be executed immediately. </div><div>The situation of Edith Stein is a clear indication of what we can sometimes expect when the Church speaks out against evil in the world. It's lesson is not that the Church should not speak out against evil, but that we should be prepared to pay the price Our Lord paid for speaking out against the prince of the world and his minions. It is perhaps even a sign of what we can one day expect in our own lifetimes. It should be remembered that Henry VIII was declared "Defender of the Faith" by the Pope only years before he declared himself head of the Church of England and dissolved the monasteries, in the one of the greatest grabs of Church property in European history.</div><div>We may see it's like again.</div>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-46320217168691226032010-08-07T17:13:00.000-07:002010-08-07T17:28:04.101-07:00NagasakiTomorrow is the anniversary of that horrific event, the destruction of Hiroshima by the atomic bomb <span style="font-style: italic;">Little Boy</span>, dropped by the U.S. Army Air Corps B-29 bomber <span style="font-style: italic;">Enola Gay</span>. On the next day the bomb named <span style="font-style: italic;">Fat Man</span> was dropped on the Japanease port city of Nagasaki.<br />Brother Anthony Josemaria looks at this event in light of the large population of Japanese Catholics who died at Nagasaki in <a href="http://hprweb.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=250:the-catholic-holocaust-of-nagasaki-august-9-1945why-lord&amp;catid=34:current-issue">The Catholic Holocaust of Nagasaki—“Why, Lord?”</a><br />I had known some of the story of the evangelization of Japan before. Who has not heard the story of Paul Miki and the twenty-five martyrs? I even knew a little of the story of Fr. Petitjean and the Urakami Christian. Brother Josemaria gives a very elightening view of Christian suffering and the historical framework of these evnts. An article well worth reading.TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-51452866043545668072010-08-05T16:03:00.000-07:002010-08-05T16:23:03.748-07:00Dedication of Saint Mary MajorThe Dedication of Saint Mary major is the liturgical feast celebrated in honor of the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, which is the largest church in Rome dedicated to the Blessed Mother.<div>This feast commemorates the rededication of the church by Pope Sixtus III just after the First Council of Ephesus.</div><div>This council was called to answer the problems caused by the teachings of Nestorius. Nestorianism split the natures of the Christ into human and divine. So while believing that Jesus was God, it denied that Mary was the mother of God. Cyril contested this belief, and at the Council it was declared that Mary was indeed the Theotokos, the <i>birth giver of God</i>.</div><div>This church is also called the Church of Our Lady of the Snows. It is said that in the forth century, during the pontificate of Liberius, a Roman patrician named John and his wife, who were without child, pray to the Virgin Mary, that she might make known a way that they might dispose of their property in her honor. On August 5th, in the heat of the Roman summer, snow fell on the Esquiline Hill. The couple had a vision of this event, and on the spot on the hill side which had been covered with snow they built a church.</div>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-30725467323367642062010-08-02T12:58:00.000-07:002010-08-02T12:58:43.622-07:00I Don’t Need your Catechism!�|�Catholic Exchange<div>What is the basis of the Catechetical program in your parish?</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://catholicexchange.com/2010/07/22/132519/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+catholicex+%28Catholic+Exchange%29">I Don’t Need your Catechism!�|�Catholic Exchange</a>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-14987628071711662012010-08-02T12:27:00.000-07:002010-08-02T12:53:02.649-07:00Prayer TimeIn our busy world it often seems very hard to find the time to pray. We wake up already having more things to do than time to do them in. The kids need us. We don't get spend enough time with our spouse. We have more work than can possibly be accomplished in the time we have to do it. Where are we suppose to find the time to pray?<div>St. Francis de Sales when asked how much one should pray said that you should pray for half hour a day, unless you are really busy. If you are really busy, you should pray for an hour.</div><div>The great doctor of the Church understood that in being busy we are concerning ourselves with earthly things. Like Martha, the industrious sister of Lazarus and Mary, fluttering around concerned with the tasks of hospitality, but missing the presence of the bridegroom. We must, like Mary, choose the better half and subjugate our earthly concerns to the transcendent.<br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 31px; font-size:small;"><span><span><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 31px; font-size:small;"></span></div></div>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-28619483338077750632010-08-02T11:50:00.000-07:002010-08-02T11:50:28.284-07:00Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog: Chesterton on the real difference between Paganism and Christianity<div>Chesterton on Christian virtues by way of Ignatius Insight:</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2010/07/chesterton-on-the-real-difference-between-paganism-and-christianity.html">Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog: Chesterton on the real difference between Paganism and Christianity</a>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-53529536208525232332010-07-30T13:48:00.000-07:002010-07-30T13:55:32.133-07:00Warren Harding-- say what??Not my usual fare, but the Center for Visions &amp; Values has an interesting article on <a href="http://www.visandvals.org/We_Could_Use_a_Man_Like_Warren_Harding_Again.php">Warren Harding</a>, 29th President of the United States. You'll find lots of facts you probably weren't taught in school. The center for Visions &amp; Values is at Grove City College, a Christian Liberal Arts College associated with the the <a linkindex="37" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterian_Church_%28USA%29" title="Presbyterian Church (USA)" class="mw-redirect">Presbyterian Church.</a>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-83331942401030507772010-07-29T09:53:00.000-07:002010-07-29T09:56:01.684-07:00Demonic Faith and Angelic Warfare - from Catholic Exchange<a href="http://catholicexchange.com/author/frbruno/" title="Posts by Rev. Bruno M. Shah, O.P.">Rev. Bruno M. Shah, O.P.</a> at <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/2010/07/15/132233/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+catholicex+%28Catholic+Exchange%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader">Catholic Exchange</a> frames the moral debate of the world against the Church.<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-24150859856468365272010-07-27T07:15:00.000-07:002010-07-27T08:03:43.232-07:00Why avoid the buffet?Over the years I have been blogging I have done many posts about Cafeteria Catholicism. As a blog which more or less specializes in catechisis and catechists one might wonder why I spend so much time pointing out dissidence.<br />The answer is that truth matters. Even if it is inconvenient, difficult and carries personal costs, truth matters. One of the greatest problems with the modern world is the rejection of truth. This can most easily be seen by taking a look at classic literature of drama. Often in the best literature the story turns upon the personal conflict of the protagonist, not against an enemy, but against the truth, that is against the Right Thing. The protagonist knows what the Right Thing to do is, but the circumstances make doing the Right Thing inconvenient, difficult and full of personal cost. The dramatic tension comes from the fact that the protagonist knows what should be done, and the story revolves around the cost of either doing the Right Thing or failing to do the Right Thing.<br />One of the basic premises of such a story is that there is no question of what the Right Thing is. If the Right Thing did not exist, that is if there were no Truth, i.e. truth was relative, there would be no story. Indeed, one of the things that makes most modern movies and novels so forgettable and ultimately will prevent them from ever being classics is that they reject the concept of truth. That makes their stories at a deeper level uninteresting, and their characters undifferentiated.<br />Another aspect of this kind of story is the truth that there is not a world without consequence. That doesn't mean that doing the Right Thing is consequence free, it just means that doing something else has ultimate consequences which are even worse.<br />The consequence of death for standing up for the truth is a lesser consequence than eternal damnation for failing to stand up for the truth.<br />Cafeteria Catholics pretend they don't know the truth. They are not new or cutting edge or daring for challenging the Church. They are actually following one who is very old, doing something the first recalcitrant fallen angel did before mankind was even formed, rejecting the Truth, challenging the One who is Truth.TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-44206772568268277342010-07-18T05:21:00.000-07:002010-07-18T05:38:33.156-07:00Excuses.One reason posts have been light lately (though not the only one) is that I have been away doing domestic mission work. My parish has set up a domestic mission program in an economically depressed area of our diocese. We have been doing this for over a decade and have finally broken out, so to speak, into the wider world. This year we are also supporting an international mission trip for our young adult group, as well as helping other parishes set up their own domestic missions.<div>The reason I say we have broken out is because when a parish queried the diocese on setting up a domestic mission they we told we were th go to guys in the diocese for domestic mission programs. Interestingly enough, at our mission location we work closely with the local county social services office. The office in a neighboring county has also asked us how to get a similar group to work there.</div><div>A lot of hard work goes into the weeks we are actually working. We start planning six to nine months ahead of the first group going. We just got back and we are not truly finished for this year until we do our post trip debrief meeting next week.</div><div>God's hand is always in our midst. Weather has never interrupted our work, not even when the forecast has been for huge storms. They always seem to hold off until nightfall, or happen on Sunday (which we, of course, take as a day of rest.) We usually plan each job well ahead of time, often visiting the sites a month before we do our work. This year we received a call with a request to put in a ramp the day we arrived. This ramp allowed a man who has not been able to leave his home for two years to join us for dinner at a local church the night before we left for home. Days before we got the call he didn't even know we existed. Coincidence? The result of a lot of hard work and marketing? Rather I would say that we have simply gotten out of the way and let God work.</div><div><br /></div>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-23831600046483770332010-07-18T05:09:00.000-07:002010-07-18T05:13:18.398-07:00Upon Peter<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; "> <span><span>When Christ at a symbolic moment was establishing His great society, He chose for its comer-stone neither the brilliant Paul nor the mystic John, but a shuffler, a snob a coward—in a word, a man. And upon this rock He has built His Church, and the gates of Hell have not prevailed against it. All the empires and the kingdoms have failed, because of this inherent and continual weakness, that they were founded by strong men and upon strong men. But this one thing, the historic Christian Church, was founded on a weak man, and for that reason it is indestructible. For no chain is stronger than its weakest link.</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; "><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Heretics -- </span></span> G. K. Chesterton</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium; "><h2 align="center"></h2></span>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-9641969406359220922010-06-30T19:34:00.000-07:002010-06-30T20:18:02.730-07:00Catholic Culture How?If Catholic culture is important,then how are we to pass it on to the ones in our care as catechists?<br />It would be foolish to think that someone who was ignorant of carpentry could teach another the art of making a house. Or that someone who lacked knowledge of biology could teach another the metabolic processes of a shrimp. How could it be expected that a catechist who is not seeped in Catholic culture could pass the knowledge of the traditions and Traditions of the Church to their students?<br />It is fairly obvious that to be a devoted minister of the teaching of Church doctrine and Tradition the catechist must pray, and pray often and with real intent. The style of prayer is not terribly important. Each person will prefer a specific style of prayer. The catechist should be familiar with as many styles as possible but in their personal prayer they should use whichever is most comfortable to them.<br />Likewise it is necessary to be familiar with the Saints. Our elder brothers and sisters have much to teach us. Intercessory prayer to the Saints is a strong component of Catholic culture. We learn from the example of the Saint's lives. We hope for the response of God to the prayers we request of the Saints in our own prayers.<br />Especially the lives of the martyrs should be studied and read. Their stories give strength and hope to the faithful, as well as a warning of the possibilities to come if the culture of death gets too strong.<br />We can not know God unless we know Scripture. As St. Jerome said, "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of God." We must especially know salvation history as it is recounted in Scripture.<br />A knowledge of liturgy, especially of the general form of the Mass, the liturgical calendar, the significance of the specific seasons and High Holy days is vital. We, as Catholics live in according to a rhythm of prayer and sacrifice and feasting. Day by day we as a Church pray according to the Liturgy of the Hours. Church bells use to mark the passing of the hours. In many places the <span style="font-style: italic;">Angelus</span> is still rung marking morning, noon and night. The seasons of <span style="font-style: italic;">Advent</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Christmas</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Lent</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Easter</span> are still celebrated at the times set forth by the Church, even by those who deny her authority, even by those who fail to acknowledge the Lord's existence. The catechist should be familiar enough with the rhyme and reason of these facts, else how can they be passed on to the faithful.<br />Familiarity with the Sacraments is vital to the catechist. Not just theoretical knowledge, but also for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist a knowledge gain through the regular practice thereof.<br />It should go without say that regular Mass attendance on all of the Holy Days of Obligation, which includes every Sunday, is a given.<br />These activities will help prepare the catechist for their ministry. Only with the help and support of the Holy Spirit will success in the transmission of Catholic culture be accomplished. So of all of the above suggestions prayer is the most important.TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-19346038208465146792010-06-29T18:29:00.000-07:002010-06-29T18:33:19.416-07:00VaccinesThe use of fetal matter from aborted fetuses in the creation of vaccines is an immoral practice totally grounded in the wishes of vaccine companies to save money. Even they claim no therapeutic purpose for the practice.<br />Check out Mark Armstrong's article at <a href="http://catholicexchange.com/2010/06/24/131454/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+catholicex+%28Catholic+Exchange%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader">Catholic Exchange</a>.TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-11184923217636760262010-06-28T13:13:00.000-07:002010-06-29T07:47:28.120-07:00Why Catholic Culture?Over the weekend I had an interesting conversation with someone about why Catholics being apart from the prevailing culture is a good thing. The contrary position was that we should not try to isolate ourselves from the common culture. The argument was that Jesus did not isolate himself from sinners. That is true. It is also true that Christ always called sinners to repentance.<div>The point is that in this discussion this is a straw man. I could just as easily counter that Jesus said, as described in Matthew 18:15-17</div><div><dd style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "></dd><span><span></span></span><blockquote><span><span>"If your brother sins (against you), go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.</span></span></blockquote><blockquote><span><span>If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.'</span></span></blockquote><blockquote><span><span>If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. </span></span></blockquote><blockquote><span><span>If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector."</span></span><div></div></blockquote><div>The inference of this passage is that Christians are expected to live apart. In 1 Corinthians 5:10-12 Paul writes:</div></div><div><dd style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "></dd><span><span><blockquote>I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people, not at all referring to the immoral of this world or the greedy and robbers or idolaters; for you would then have to leave the world.</blockquote><blockquote>But I now write to you not to associate with anyone named a brother, if he is immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a robber, not even to eat with such a person.</blockquote><blockquote>For why should I be judging outsiders? Is it not your business to judge those within?</blockquote><blockquote><blockquote></blockquote></blockquote>As can be seen by Paul there is an assumption that there is a group of people who are within the Church and a group who are without. He assumes that our relationship to our brothers and sisters within the Church will be different than our relationship to those without.</span></span><dd style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "></dd></div><div>As Christians it is our duty to Evangelize, that is to preach Christ to the world. We cannot do that if we don't know who we are. In a culture based on principles so apart from the principles of the Gospel it is almost impossible to be part of both worlds.</div><div>In 2009, in the wake of President Obama's ill conceived invitation to Notre Dame <a href="http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2009/05/at-the-gates-of-notre-dame-124">Jody Bottoms </a>wrote impassioned essays on abortion and Catholic culture. <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2009/05/what-catholic-culture.html">Rod Dreher's</a> response was to ask "What Catholic culture?" pointing out that a majority of "Catholics" in the United States help vote in the most pro-abortion president this country has ever had.</div><div>This is more a proof of why maintaining a Catholic culture is important that an indictment that it isn't.</div><div>It is incumbent on parents to instill Catholic culture on their children. They are the first teachers of their children. Unfortunately too many of them are themselves ignorant of authentic Catholic culture. So it fall to the catechist to introduce aspects of Catholic culture to their students, both child and adult.</div><div>For much of modern history the assumption has been that the catechist deals primarily with the child, the exception being those who are involved in RCIA. With an almost entire generation who have not been inculturated with the facts and Truths of Catholic culture it has fallen to the Church and its catechists to now look beyond their traditional students to the greater Church.</div><div>To stand against the modern culture of death we must be like the early Christians, who stood against the ancient culture of death that was the Roman Empire. We must, in some sense be apart. We must know who we are in order to stand in the modern marketplace of ideas. </div><div>In Isaiah God promises: </div><div><br /></div><div><dd style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "></dd><span><span></span></span></div><blockquote><div><span><span>I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open.</span></span></div><div><span><span>I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family;</span></span></div></blockquote><div><span><span></span></span><dd style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "></dd></div><div>This passage is referring to the king's steward. In the Church that is Peter, for, as St. Jerome said:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>Where is Peter there is the Church.</blockquote></div><div>So guided by Peter, and the Magisterium of the Church, we must stand against the culture a peg in a sure spot. Catholic culture is our peg.</div><div><br /></div>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-79927193899536679772010-06-22T19:28:00.000-07:002010-06-22T19:28:53.798-07:00Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog: "St. Thomas More" by G. K. Chesterton<div>On this feast of St Thomas More who could more clearly teach on St Thomas than the intellectual giant of the modern age, who might himself one day be among the great doctors of the Church?</div><div><br /></div><a href="http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2010/06/st-thomas-more-by-g-k-chesterton.html">Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog: "St. Thomas More" by G. K. Chesterton</a>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-59014008217946470422010-06-13T16:04:00.000-07:002010-06-13T17:05:25.859-07:00CCHD and bishopsThe Catholic Campaign for Human Development is an organization which was founded by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1970. CCHD has always been controversial to some Catholics. The mandate of the CCHD prevents its grant money from going directly to the poor. Instead its suppose to support organizations which are working to eliminate poverty through social programs.<br />Most, if not all of its monies go to secular organizations, that is not to expressively Catholic or even Christian organizations. In its past monies which have passed through the national organization have gone to groups which do not support Catholic teaching.<br />The effectiveness and proper use of grants in individual diocese are very much a function of the level of oversight of the individual bishops. Where the bishop is orthodox and willing to take to time to ensure fund management is scrupulous in adherence to Catholic doctrine on the part of grantees funds donated to the CCHD can do much good. In cases where this is not so funds donated to the CCHD can at the least make possible the diversion of funds to support programs hostile to Catholic teaching and at worst actually support activities which are actually against Catholic teaching, such as abortion, contraception, homosexuality and hostility to the traditional family.<br />At least eight U.S. bishops have stopped taking donations for the CCHD in their diocese, instead using that same money to support charitable organizations locally, in some cases in programs which would not have been permitted under the CCHD program, such as support for a food pantry for the hungry.<br />One group <span style="font-style: italic;">Reform The Catholic Campaign for Human Development</span> has sent a <a href="http://www.reformcchdnow.com/">report</a> to every bishop in the United States. It should be pointed out that this group is not calling for the elimination of the CCHD, but for meaningful reform. The information revealed in the report is chilling to any faithful Catholic. No less that 18 grantee organizations are revealed in the report to be supporters of abortion or same-sex "marriage." At least 31 are said to require further investigation. In many cases an even cursory look at the web sites or liturature of the offending grantees would show that they support positions at odds with Catholic teaching. No great amount of investigation needed.<br />It should be mentioned that CCHD has literally hundreds of grantees nationally and many more through the local diocese. One would hope that the vast majority of these groups are compatible with Catholic teaching, not involved in disallowed activities, such as political action or support of specific political candidates or parties and are compatible in their activities with Church teaching.<br />To count on more than hope, perhaps the USCCB should heed the call for an audit of grantee organizations.<br />CCHD was founded as a response to the plight of the poor in the United States, for it to fulfill its mission it must be grounded in authentic Catholic teaching.TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-778298323734437122010-05-30T09:44:00.000-07:002010-05-30T10:56:09.902-07:00Trinity Sunday<blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><span><span></span></span>Trinity Sunday was instituted to honor the Most Holy Trinity by John XXII in A.D. 1334. Until 1960s it was celebrated as part of the Octave of Pentecost and marked the end of a three-week period during which weddings were forbidden.<div>Feasts to honor the Trinity, though not part of the liturgical calendar used for the Mass, were included locally in the Divine Office from the time of Gregory the Great as the Office of the Holy Trinity, with their own canticles, responses and hymns.</div><div>The doctrine of the Trinity is a central tenant of the Catholic faith and is excepted by most, but not all, of the other Christian faiths. This is revealed Truth which man could not come to through understanding of natural law. Though in Scripture there is no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together, they are separately described in several places. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus tells the disciples:</div><div><blockquote>...go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.</blockquote></div><div>In Luke (1:35) Scripture tells us:</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;"></span></div><span><span><blockquote>And the angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. </blockquote></span></span><div>The Most High is the Father, described by a phrase used in the Old Testament, as in Sirach(Ecclesiasticus) 24:</div><div><dd style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "></dd><span><span></span></span></div><blockquote><div><span><span>Wisdom sings her own praises, before her own people she proclaims her glory;</span></span></div><div><span><span>In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth, in the presence of his hosts she declares her worth:</span></span></div><div><span><span>"From the mouth of the Most High I came forth..</span></span></div></blockquote><div><span><span></span></span></div><div><span><span></span></span>The references to the Holy Spirit and the Son are clearly stated.</div><div>The early Church from Apostolic times taught the doctrine of the Trinity. The baptismal formula is ancient. It had its origin in the oral tradition that became Scripture and it's use predated Scripture.</div><div>At the time of the Arian Heresy in the fourth century, the Trinitarian dogma was already encapsulated in the doxologies in use:</div><div><blockquote>Glory to the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Ghost.</blockquote></div><div>carried through to the present day as</div><div><blockquote>Glory to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit</blockquote></div><div>There are many passages in the ante-Nicene (that is before the Council of Nicene) Church Fathers which attest to the wide spread belief in the dogma of the Trinity; St. Basil tells us that when Christians lit the evening lamp it was their custom to give thanks to God with Prayer</div><span><span><blockquote>We praise the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit of God</blockquote></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><span><span><blockquote><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><blockquote></blockquote></span></span></span></blockquote></span></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07409a.htm" style="text-decoration: none; "></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:22px;">This is the consistent teaching of the Church Fathers. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div><dd style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; "></dd><div>In theological terms the Trinity can be described as a mystery. Theologically a mystery is a Truth which we are not only incapable of discovering apart from Divine Revelation, but which even when revealed remains hidden. That is it is a fact so enveloped by an aspect beyond our understanding that even when revealed it is necessary that it's acceptance be a manifest matter of faith. It is, in short, impenetrable to reason, although it contains no intrinsic impossibility which violates the laws of nature. It is incomprehensible, as God will alway be incomprehensible to us on a fundamental level. I leave you with St Jerome who said:</div></div><div><blockquote>The true profession of the mystery of the Trinity is to own that we do not comprehend it.</blockquote></div>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-55232507896662763152010-05-28T09:58:00.000-07:002010-05-28T10:03:48.998-07:00Marian PrayersFor the Lent and Easter season this year I used a book called <i>Lent and Easter with Mary </i>by Thomas J. Craughwell. A day by day guide through the Lent and Easter season this book includes a different prayer every day, many seldom prayed in today's Church. It also contains many stories of Saints throughout the ages with particular attention given to their Marian devotion.<div>I would highly recommend it.<br /><div><br /></div></div>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1881105681048936638.post-11686453633233155622010-05-28T09:28:00.000-07:002010-05-28T09:58:11.266-07:00Excuses and liturgyA very bad month for blogging. I am determined to blog more regularly, especially as I feel it will be more important as we in the United States and throughout the English speaking world are introduced to the new English translation of the Mass.<div>It seems almost certain that the USCCB will set Advent 2011, that is the Advent after next as the official date that the new translation of the Mass will begin being used in Catholic Churches in the United States.</div><div>I've discussed the new translation several times, as well as why the catechist should be interested and involved in this change.</div><div>It is important that the catechist understands the framework of the change. Beyond the very good reasons for a new translation, the facts of the translation itself should be known and be able to be explained by the catechist.</div><div>To begin with the previous ICEL translation is of the Roman Missile promulgated in 1975. In the United States the actual translation used is not the final approved translation, but still contains some parts, the creed for example, where a different translation based on an earlier draft was used. </div><div>In 2000 the original Latin edition, which contains some minor revisions, was approved. It was issued in 2002 and is called the Third Edition of the Roman Missal. In 2008 an amended version of this missile was issued which corrects some misprints in the original years 2000 version. This is the version from which the new translation is taken.</div><div>There are significant changes to some parts of the Mass prayed by the people and many parts of the Mass prayed by the priest. Without proper preparation many of the faithful will be unnecessarily confused by these changes. It is the responsibility of each pastor, using the resources provided by their bishop and with the help of his parish catechists to prepare the faithful for the use of this new translation.</div><div>We have what appears to be a long time to accomplish this catechisis. It will be many month before official volumes of th<span><span>e Sacramentary are available (though parishes should start thinking about budgeting for the new books they will need, as well as the training materials they will need.) However if we don't prepare for the tasks we will have to face next year in the preparations we will not be in a position to ensure a smooth transition.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 23px; "><em style="font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; "><span><span></span></span></em></span></div><div><span><span>So if you are a catechist seek out training on the new translation. many diocese have already started to hold training classes of their priest and catechetical leaders. Lots of information is available on line. Start with the </span><a href="http://www.usccb.org/romanmissal/index.shtml">USCCB site</a><span>. </span></span></div><div><span><span>Get to work, time's fleeting.</span></span></div>TerryChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07534442176545473283noreply@blogger.com0